The present invention relates to a decorative lantern, and more particularly to a decorative lantern that is suitable for connecting to a light-emitting ornament, such as a lamp string, to create an enhanced decorating effect.
In the past, a lantern was used as a lighting means in the night, and usually included a cylindrical hollow body having a constantly flammable light source provided therein, so that the lantern could be carried with a hand or hung on somewhere for use. Today, the lantern has been completely replaced by an electric lamp in our daily life. Nevertheless, the lantern is still a good ornament due to a graceful formation thereof and soft light beams emitted therefrom.
Typically, the lantern has a cylindrical hollow body made of a paper material and a light-source mount provided in the cylindrical body. Since the body of the paper lantern has an insufficient structural strength, it is generally necessary to reinforce the lantern body with wood or bamboo. The wood or bamboo reinforcement largely complicates the manufacturing process of the paper lantern to increase the time and labor costs thereof and prevents the lantern from being mass-produced.
Moreover, the conventional paper lantern is not heat-resistant and therefore not safe for use with a modern light-emitting ornament, such as a lamp in a lamp string that is normally continuously lightened for a prolong time and would therefore produce a considerably high temperature.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a decorative lantern suitable for use with a light-emitting ornament as an additional decoration thereof.
To achieve the above and other objects, the decorative lantern of the present invention includes a plurality of constituent pieces made of a light-transmissible, heat-resisting, and flexible plastic material. Each of the constituent pieces has a radially inner zone at a first side thereof, and a radially outer zone at a second side thereof, and is formed at a radially inner edge with at least one recess portion. The constituent pieces are sequentially connected together by bonding the radially inner zone at the first side of a first constituent piece to a second constituent piece adjacent to the first side of the first constituent piece, and bonding the radially outer zone at the second side of the first constituent piece to a third constituent piece adjacent to the second side of the first constituent piece; and the recess portions of all the constituent pieces together define a receiving space in the decorative lantern for accommodating an electrically conductive light source therein.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the electrically conductive light source is a lamp adapted for connecting to a light-emitting ornament, such as a lamp string, so that the lantern forms an ornamental component of the light-emitting ornament.
In other feasible embodiments of the present invention, the radially inner and outer zones separately at two sides of different constituent pieces for bonding purpose may be flexibly designed to have different areas and lengths, so as to create different shapes for the decorative lantern.